A Prayer to Live With Grace
May we discover through pain and torment,
the strength to live with grace and humor.
May we discover through doubt and anguish,
the strength to live with dignity and holiness.
May we discover through suffering and fear,
The strength to move toward healing.
May it come to pass that we be restored to health and to vigor.
May life grant us wellness of body, spirit, and mind.
And if this cannot be so, may we find in this transformation and passage
Moments of meaning, opportunities for love
and the deep and gracious calm that comes
when we allow ourselves to move on.
~Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro
Come, God, and hear my cry;
my spirit thirsts for you.
My body withers, weary, dry.
Come, Spirit God, renew!
Resting in the Divine presence
trusting the fertile darkness
yielding to the unknown
in the process of becoming
Held in mystery
everything is no-thing
emptiness is abundance
absence is presence
Silence in the sacred moment
Eternity is now
~Susan Gregg-Schroeder
So often, Divine One
the tasks before me
feel overwhelming and impossible
The expectations of others weigh heavy
upon my shoulders.
At times like these,
I think I need to do something
to invest more time and effort
to pray longer and harder
to embark on a journey
in search of the Kingdom.
When I am too tired to "do" anymore
when I am content just to "be"
when I stop long enough to rest
when I am finally ready to give up
I find myself sitting on a treasure
You have hidden in a field
waiting for me to discover
When I lift the treasure
from its hiding place,
I find that You have
graced me with adequacy
for all that lies ahead.
~Susan Gregg-Schroeder
O Holy God,
open unto me
light for my darkness,
courage for my fear,
hope for my despair.
O loving God,
open unto me
wisdom for my confusion,
forgiveness for my sins,
love for my hate.
O God of peace,
open unto me
peace for my turmoil,
joy for my sorrow,
strength for my weakness.
O generous God,
open my heart
to receive all your gifts.
~Howard Thurman
From chaos and emptiness,
From loneliness and lifelessness,
Come, Creator, Come.
From darkness and shapelessness,
From the abyss and awfulness,
Come, Creator, Come.
From fearfulness and hopelessness,
From weakness and dreadfulness,
Come, Creator, Come.
~A Celtic Prayer - David Adam
Break into my confusion, Lord.
Help me to know who I am
and what I am meant to be.
Guide, uphold and strengthen me
as I leave behind the world
of limits and labels.
Guide, uphold and strengthen me
as together we create a world
of infinite possibility.
~Susan Gregg-Schroeder
Spirit God, you know our needs
our wounds
our hurts
our fears
Even before we can form them
into words of prayers.
You are patient with us.
You are protective of us.
You are present with us
until some time that we are able
to ask for what we need.
Thank you, Spirit God,
for your healing taking place within
before we are even aware
of how broken we have become.
~Susan Gregg-Schroeder
O God, the journey has been so long.
I've taken every side road along the way.
I've explored all the hidden places.
As your prodigal daughter,
I've felt that I could find the way myself.
Even so, You, as loving parent, were beside me
same when my strength was gone
nurturing me when I was helpless.
And when I was exhausted
floundering
ready to give up,
You touched me with Your grace,
And I felt Your abundant love.
We walked back home together...
hand in hand.
~Susan Gregg-Schroeder
Come along with me
as a sojourner of faith.
Bring along
a sense of expectancy
a vision of high hopes
a glimpse of future possibility
a vivid imagination.
For God's creation is not done.
We are called to pioneer
a future yet unnamed.
As we venture forward,
we leave behind our desire for
a no-risk life
worldly accumulations
certainty of answers.
Let us travel light
in the spirit of faith and expectations
toward the God of our hopes and dreams.
May we be witnesses
to God's future breaking in.
Come along with me
as a sojourner of faith
secure in the knowledge
that we never travel alone.
~Susan Gregg-Schroeder